Mission Focused Men for Christ

Episode Summary . What is the fastest way for Christians to lose their influence in the culture? It might be by forgetting two foundational worldview principles that are so important that God mentions them in the very first chapter of the Bible. This episode identifies these two principles and how embracing them can change our lives.  For Further Prayerful Thought: In your own words, why would you...

Episode Summary . In his book, The God Delusion , Richard Dawkins argued that you cannot be an intelligent scientific thinker and still hold religious beliefs . This widespread opinion is held by many, especially those in the world of academia, where the rising generation will almost certainly encounter this potential obstacle to their faith. This episode examines Dawkins’ argument from a biblical...

Episode Summary . Rod Dreher, in his book, The Benedict Option , insists that currently the culture is shaping the next generation in dramatic ways—even shaping their faith , instead of their faith shaping their thinking about culture. Our agenda, therefore, for raising up the next generation must include intentionally countering the dominant misguided worldviews of the culture and helping them se...

Episode Summary . In Genesis 2:15, we are told that Adam was placed in the Garden to cultivate (AVAD) it and to protect (SHAMAR) it. Throughout history it has been a man’s responsibility to stand in the doorway of his home, spear or shotgun in hand to protect (SHAMAR) his wife and kids from marauding gangs who might steal their food, rape their wife, or harm their children. In the 21st century, me...

Episode Summary . What do you think of the statement, God never intended a Christian man to fight his spiritual battles alone ? Could that statement be true? And if it is, could Satan be constantly defeating Christian men today because it is so hard to get them connected to a few brothers to help them fight their spiritual battles? Could the world around us see Christians today as not very differe...

Episode Summary . Jesus had to wrestle with all the incessant demands that cried out for his energy and attention, just as we have to in the 21st century— but he stayed focused on his mission . This episode examines HOW he did that! For Further Prayerful Thought:  Do you agree that one thing dumber than not having a game plan for the Super Bowls might be HAVING a game plan but NEVER LOOKING AT IT...

Episode Summary:  Never before in history have human beings trying to focus on a task in front of them that needs doing faced distractions as powerful as the beep or flash of our cell phones intruding into our consciousness. In the face of such constant distractions (often by good things), Christians all seem to be struggling to save any time or energy to devote to the most important goal of our l...

Episode Summary . It is popularly thought today that human rights are the invention of modern secularism, which must protect these rights from oppressive forces like religion . But the facts of history tell us that the concept of human rights arose not from secularism, nor from Eastern religion, nor from the Enlightenment, but from Christendom. Until Christianity transformed it, the Greco-Roman wo...

Episode Summary . This is the third episode in the series, Helping Our Loved Ones Flourish Using Their Spiritual Gifts. Unleashing Kingdom Potential seems to be a great description of what happens when the members of Christ’s church understand and deploy their spiritual gifts. This episode explores the three gifts from Romans 12 that are the Get the Job Done gifts, LEADING, SERVING, and GIVING, il...

Episode Summary . This episode begins a series, Helping Our Loved Ones Flourish Using Their Spiritual Gifts. Understanding and deploying our spiritual gifts is so central to the lives of Christians, that we cannot help our loved ones become all God wants them to be in Christ, without understanding what Paul teaches about spiritual gifts. The two gifts from the Romans 12 list of spiritual gifts tha...

Episode Description : Understanding and deploying our spiritual gifts is so central to the lives of Christians, that we cannot help our loved ones become all God wants them to be in Christ, without understanding what Paul teaches about spiritual gifts. Despite controversies about some spiritual gifts, all Christians agree that the seven gifts identified in Romans 12 are still being given by God to...

Episode Summary: What if there were a fundamental part of the very Identity of Jesus that you almost never hear about, and many Christians miss? You might find this episode very enlightening as we dig into Jesus’ identity as a WARRIOR, and why joining him in his fight matters so much today. For Further Prayerful Thought  Identify 3 or 4 reasons why we don’t usually default to Jesus’ nature as bein...

Episode Summary: Jesus summarized our mission, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Pursuing Christ’s kingship in my life begins in my own heart with my personal love and loyalty to Christ. We are first called TO Christ to enjoy a love relationship with him. This part of our mission is consistent with the great commandment to love God with all my heart and the first commandment to...

Summary : Today, there is a pandemic within families: not Covid 19 but pornography. It is more accessible than ever before and reaching children at a younger age. We cannot afford to be naïve as adults or as parents. This episode looks at what’s happening today, how to protect our kids from pornography, and how to equip them with a biblical view of sexuality and pornography. For Further Prayerful...

Episode Summary: One of the best insights I learned as a dad, was the difference between authority and leadership . Authority coerces obedience through punishment or the threat of punishment. Leadership is the influence in a child’ life that makes him WANT to obey our requirements and God’s Word. As we saw last week, BOTH are needed. Compassionate discipline is required to enable young children to...

Episode Summary: Over the years, as I have thought about seeking to be a great dad to my five (now grown kids), there is one verse of Scripture that always comes to mind. It is God’s statement to the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinth 12:9, “In weakness, my power is shown the more completely.” Boy, have I claimed this verse over the years, especially since of all things, God puts DADS and NOT MOMS in charg...

Summary : Proverbs 18:21 says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue . In Jesus’ most famous sermon, he taught that angry, critical words can very easily explode from our mouths and rip like shrapnel into the most tender, sensitive part of a person’s soul—his self-esteem. In contrast, is God the Father’s use of words to build up The Son. Two of the three times that God the Father spoke aud...

Episode Summary: As I have talked with countless men around the country about their vocational calling, I’ve come to this conclusion: The poorer a man’s theology of work is, the less fulfilling his work usually is . This episode observes five building blocks to a biblical worldview of work, by examining Adam’s calling to subdue the earth. The Five Questions To Consider About Your Vocation How does...

Episode Summary: No MAN I know wants to be weak; nor does any BOY want to be called a weakling . The biblical writers identify this creation characteristic of men, appealing to the desire in men to be strong . At the close of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth he wrote, Be watchful, stand firm in the faith , ACT LIKE MEN, be STRONG 1 Cor. 16:13. The Apostle, John, addresses subgroups of people...

Episode Summary: No MAN I know wants to be weak; nor does any BOY want to be called a weakling . The biblical writers identify this creation characteristic of men, appealing to the desire in men to be strong . At the close of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth he wrote, Be watchful, stand firm in the faith , ACT LIKE MEN, be STRONG 1 Cor. 16:13. The Apostle, John, addresses subgroups of people...

Episode Summary: In John 10:10 Jesus taught his followers that he had come that they might have life and have it abundantly (vs 10). Later in John 15, he explained HOW IT IS that Jesus imparts that spiritual life to us. He said, I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever ABIDES in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Spiritual flourishing results...

Episode Summary: No Christian man wants to fail Jesus. But how to we keep our inner fire to live for him burning hot when we do fail him over and over again and when we are deeply disheartened by the direction our culture is taking right now. It’s easy to feel like Satan and sin are winning, so what’s the use? The goal of this episode is to stoke the fire of our passion to stay focused on the miss...

Earlier Episodes In This Series:   Christian Men, The Equality Act & the Resurrection S2 Episode #22 4/4/21 Wisely Protecting Your Child from Gender Confusion S2 Episode #23 4/11/21 2 Requirements for Steering Teens Towards Godly Sexuality S2 Ep #24 4/18/21 Inspiring Kids to See God’s Awesome Design of Gender  S2 Episode #25  4/25/21   Episode Summary : Motivated by a heart-driven gratefulness...

Earlier Episodes In This Series:   Christian Men, The Equality Act & the Resurrection    S2 Episode # 22 4/4/21 Wisely Protecting Your Child from Gender Confusion    S2 Episode # 23 4/11/21 2 Requirements for Steering Teens Towards Godly Sexuality   S2 Ep # 24 4/18/21  Episode Summary : A worried mom said to me, “My daughter no longer believes what the Bible says about homosexuality and wives...

Episode Summary:  Vibrant marriages and healthy families are the result of following God’s design of male and female to have different needs, responsibilities, and callings in the family. These words came from a veteran Christian counselor who had once been a beat cop on the streets of Miami. I think this counselor is right— which means that today’s Christian men need to be steering the rising gen...